The present invention relates to a method for generating an electric power and a battery utilizing a sugar as a source of energy.
Like protein and lipid, sugar is an important energy source for animals. Glucose represented by the chemical formula: C6H12O6 is a typical example of a sugar. When one glucose molecule is completely oxidized, 24 electrons are taken out of it, and carbon dioxide and water are produced. These 24 electrons are utilized as energy in the body of any animal. According to the thermodynamic calculation, glucose has an energy of 2872 kJ per mol or 4.43 Wh per gram. This energy density is higher than 3.8 Wh/g, which is the weight energy density of metallic lithium used for the negative electrode of a lithium battery known to have a high energy density.
However, the methods of utilizing the energy of sugar, have not been developed so far except methods utilizing it as heat energy source through combustion thereof in air or as chemical energy source used for ATP or the like through the action of 10 or more oxidases in an animal body (see Alberts et al., Essential Cell Biology, Garland Publishing, Inc. 1997, p107). Specifically, no method have been produced of effectively utilizing the chemical energy of sugar directly as electric energy.